Strangers in a Strange Land
by Remy'sRose
Summary: A battle with another mutant sends the XMen into the past they find their way back to their own time but find it changed. A cruel world where one mutant has conquered most of the known world and resistance is nonexsistant. Romy, Jott. Backtothefutureish
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: A Rare Occurrence**

It was a rare occurrence; a fierce electrical storm with high winds that could almost knock one over if they weren't paying attention. It was a miserable night, to a soul in their right mind was out in it; there was only a crazed, fanatical mutant maniac whose powers feed off the electricity like a dying plant did water. Once he had his fill, he did not just go home, no, he went about destroying everything in sight and laughing hysterically like the mad man he was. So of course, this behavior could not be condoned and this lunatic had to be stopped before innocent people were hurt. No, there weren't any people out in that storm, especially at two am in a sleepy suburb in New Jersey, but this electricity eating fool had to go out in search of them. The police were no match for him, of course; a few local officers were called to his last known location and proceeded to use their tasers on him; three guesses what the end result was. Yes, it only added to his growing store of power; rapidly growing, in fact, for even the air was becoming electrically charged. Someone needed to stop him.

"O' course it has t' be us," a sleepy-eyed Gambit grumbled as he slumped in his seat aboard the Blackbird. "Da east coast be crawlin' wit' superheroes, but it gotta be us. I'd like ta see dat _emprisonne-ramper_ (wall-crawling) Spidy up at 2am chasin' down some _personne déséquilibrée_. (Lunatic) _Mais_ we all know he be tucked in a web somewhere, visions of horseflies dancin' in his head."

"Can it, Gumbo," Wolverine growled from his own seat. "Ya think the rest of us are happy with havin' ta get up at this hour? Let's just take this sucker down as soon as possible, and then you can get back to yer beauty sleep."

Gambit was about to throw in another comment but he caught the very green eyes of his southern darling and saw her subtle headshake, silently asking him not to escalate things with a cranky Wolverine. Sending her a charming smile, the Cajun X-Man acquiesced and proceeded to silently flirt with her until the X-Men's jet touched down.

"Alright, people," Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, field leader of the X-Men stood up from his seat in the cockpit once they had landed and addressed his team. "You've already been briefed on this mutant and we know our objective; to take him down without injury to any innocent bystanders."

"Or ourselves neither, _hein_?" Gambit quipped.

"Yes, Remy," Scott said patiently. "Look after yourselves and each other out there. We need to subdue this mutant quickly but try not to be too forceful; if he sees us as a threat, he may get hostile."

"Because he ain't hostile now," Wolverine muttered, crossing his arms across his chest and picking up a silent game of verbal tag with Gambit aimed at annoying their leader. "Those ain't bolts of electricity he throwin', Cajun, they're rainbows and gumdrops."

"He just tryin' t' spread a lil' love around," Gambit nodded, delighted to see his Rogue stifle a smirk.

"_Alright you two,"_ the telepathic voice of Jean Grey echoed in their minds as she stood beside her field leader and husband_. "This is serious now; we can all joke about it later when this is all finished." _

"Y'all can joke about it when it's finished," Rogue stood from her seat. "Ah'll be catchin' up on _mah_ beauty sleep."

"_Chere_," Gambit was beside her in a flash. "It be impossible f'r you t' get anymore _belle_ den y' are now."

"Can we all focus now?" Cyclops said. "There is a dangerous mutant out there rampaging through the streets that requires our attention."

"Of course, fearless leader," the Hank McCoy aka the Beast, came bounding out of the cockpit in all his blue, furry glory and stood beside Jean. "I think our dear Gambit was merely attempting to reassure our resident southern belle that not much about her appearance that needs improving. Beauty such as hers needs no improvement."

"You tryin' t' horn in on my girl?" Gambit asked the Beast with mock irritation.

"Battlin' a mutant maniac at 2am in a small New Jersey neighborhood durin' a storm like this?" Rogue looked over at Gambit. "Ya sure know how t' show a girl a good time, swamp rat."

"We do have fun dates, don't we, _chere_?"

"Ahem!"

"Don't get yer panties in a twist, Cyke," Wolverine grunted as he headed toward the hatch. "We're goin'."

XXX

He wasn't one of the strongest mutants they had ever fought, he was slow, sloppy and made a few rash moves but the electrical storm was feeding his powers and as soon as they thought they had worn him down, the electrical currents coursing through the air recharged him. They were just grateful that it had not begun to rain; if it did there would be a high chance of electrocution. Soon, their concern grew as black clouds, heavy with rain began to move in and the X-Men regrouped a few yards away from the mutant, to try and figure out a way to subdue him quickly.

"Jean," Scott looked over at his wife, a bit winded. "Can you just shut his mind down long enough to get him into the jet?"

"No," Jean shook her head. "There's something about his powers that blocks me from entering his mind. And I'm sure this storm has something to do with it as well."

"Ah can knock 'im out, Cyclops," Rogue spoke up. "Just distract him long enough for me ta sneak up on him. Ah'll just take a little bit, just enough ta take 'im down."

Cyclops thought for less than a minute before shaking his head: "No, Rogue, I don't think that's such a good idea. We don't know what you'll find in there. That guy's unbalanced and I don't want to take the risk that you won't be able to handle what's in his head. If you can't, we'll have a whole new situation on our hands."

"Ah can take it, don't worry about me," Rogue insisted, a bit irritated.

"No, we'll do it the old-fashioned way. I'm not going to risk anyone."

They formed a quick plan of attack but Rogue was still angry, they didn't trust her to be able to control it, they didn't think she could. Not one of them had backed her up. Now they were going to do this the hard way when all she had to do was tap the man. She was still angry, but she went along. Gambit was relieved; he hated seeing her use her the powers she hated, he hated seeing what happened to her afterward, the condition it left her in and he was afraid that one day, they, or rather he, would lose her completely should the transfer ever be permanent. It could destroy her mind of change her completely and he loved her too much to lose her. He knew she was sulking, he recognized that petulant pout on her face but he was relieved all the same. Perhaps, he thought, he could be the shoulder she cried on later. Any excuse to be near her would do. What has love done t' you, LeBeau? He shook his head and kept one eye on his stubborn darling.

It all went according to plan, at first, and then everything went horribly wrong. They hadn't thought he could get anymore erratic, they were wrong. He began using the electrical currents in the air to attack them, keeping them from getting close enough to him and dispelling as energy that Cyclops, Gambit or Jean threw at him. Severely winded, they once more regrouped.

"Where's Rogue?" Gambit looked about when he noticed that Rogue had not returned to their huddle.

"Scott!" Jean said, after scanning for her. "She's right behind him!"

Unable to call to her lest they draw the enemy's attention to her, they could only watch as their teammate came up behind the man and grabbed his bare arm with a gloveless hand. She began to drain his energy, yes, but with the storm replenishing him, it was a futile attempt. After a moment she broke away but now she had ammunition with which to fight him. She contacted Jean as she slammed him with his own power, telling her to go for him while he was occupied. The mutant didn't see the X-Men sneak up behind him. He was too busy fighting this girl who had the audacity to try and steal his energy. They blasted each other but it really had no effect and the storm was now feeding Rogue as well. The others were close and with one great blast Rogue hurled as much energy as she could at him. Unfortunately, he did the same. The two opposing blasts met with explosive results, a blinding flash sent all parties hurling backward and after that great flash of light, there was only darkness.

(A/N: To my loyal readers, I am not abandoning my other stories, I promise. I just get so many ideas, I feel compelled to write them down. So, let me know what you think of this one. Loved it, hated it? Just hit the review button)


	2. Chapter 2

My thanks to all who reviewed the first chapter; it will get better, I promise.

You all know that I don't own these characters, right?

Chapter 2:

Wolverine was the first to wake up; his healing factor driving away enough of the grogginess to start sniffing the air and shortly after, his eyes shot open; something wasn't right. With a groan, he sat up and surveyed his surroundings; it was still dark but he could see that they were no longer were they had been; they were now in a very large field and the maniac they had been fighting was no where to be seen. Groaning again he hoisted himself up to check on the others. He scanned his surroundings; Cyclops lay about two yards beside him in the long grass, Jean was about two feet away from her husband and they were both breathing normally and appeared to be unconscious but uninjured. Beast had landed beneath a large oak tree and Beast appeared to be alright; Gambit had landed almost in the next yard, he too, appeared to be breathing and alright. Logan looked about for Rogue—and looked and looked. She didn't seem to be anywhere in the vicinity. Trying to suppress the rising panic he felt, Wolverine strode quickly through the deep grass to see if he could pick up her scent. Perhaps she had been the only one conscious, perhaps their mutant friend had taken off and she followed him but after walking a few feet, he heard someone moan and he turned toward the sound. It was Gambit; he was sitting up, rubbing his head and Logan went over to him.

"What de hell . . .?"

"Can ya get up?" Logan asked as he approached.

"Yep, I'm fine t'anks," Gambit grumbled.

"C'mon Cajun," Logan said, his voice was gruff with concern. "I don't see Rogue. Get up and help me look for her."

Gambit was up in that next moment and looking for his ladylove; not even trying to cover up the worry on his face. He noticed that they were no longer where they should be but it was secondary to Rogue. He walked toward a clump of trees a few yards away and tried to peer into the darkness. Charging up a card, he used the soft glow to light the area and he was about to go in deeper when he noticed form laying in the darkness a few feet away. It was Rogue. He knelt beside her, grateful she was there but he noticed that she didn't appear to be breathing. Running gloved fingers against her throat, he could make out a faint pulse but there was no breath. He scooped her up in his arms and ran back to where the others were now up and around.

"She got a pulse but she ain't breathin'," Remy told them as he lay her gently down.

"Move back," Logan knelt beside the woman who was like his younger sister and pulled off his gloves. "I'll let her absorb my powers."

They watched as Logan placed his rough, calloused hand against Rogue's soft, smooth cheek and they waited for him to pass out; but he didn't. After a moment, Logan took his hand away.

"Cyke?"

"Start CPR," Cyclops said. "Her powers aren't working for some reason."

Remy started mouth to mouth before their leader even finished his speech; normally he would have loved any excuse to be this intimate with his Rogue but not this time. This time, he was trying to breathe life into the woman he loved and hoping that it was enough. Logan had started chest compressions and after a few moments, they were rewarded as Rogue began to breathe again, coughing as she got used to her lungs again. Beast knelt down beside her to check her pulse and breathing.

"Easy _chere_," Gambit murmured as he stroked her hair. "Plenty o' air 'round, no need t' take it all in at once."

"S-speak (cough) f'r ya (cough) s-self, Cajun."

Remy smiled at his lady's spunk and squeezed her hand.

"You gave us quite a scare, young lady," Beast pretended to scold as he checked her pulse with his watch.

"Ya mind tellin' us why ya decided ta check out early?" Logan tried to hide his relief with his gruffness but was doing a poor job. "An' why yer powers ain't workin'?"

"Mah powers ain't workin'?" Rogue said her voice hoarse from a scratchy throat.

"Logan just tried to give you his powers when we found you not breathing," Jean explained gently. "Nothing happened. Remy just gave you mouth to mouth and you didn't absorb him either."

Rogue looked at Remy and raised one brow slightly before saying: "Ah don't remember anythang after Ah followed y'all through that portal."

"What portal?" They all asked her in unison.

"Th' portal that opened up and sucked y'all in. Looked like some kinda power backlash or somethin'. After it sucked y'all through Ah called the mansion f'r back-up, but the portal started t' close so Ah jumped through."

"Another reckless decision," Cyclops crossed his arms and went into his fearless leader scold/lecture mode. "After disobeying my order not to use your powers on that mutant, we don't even know where we are. How are the other's even going to find us? And what about that renegade mutant? Where did he go-?"

"Y' wanna give her a minute, Cyclops?" Gambit said a bit angry over their fearless leader giving his injured Rogue the riot act. "She wasn't even breathin' a few minutes ago an' now all y' can do is stand dere an' scold her?"

"I believe it would be prudent to put off your lecture, Scott," Beast said. "At least for the time being. Rogue, you're rubbing your head, my dear, does it hurt?"

"Nah," Rogue tried to laugh as Beast gently probed her head for any bumps or cuts. "Just feels like I been hit in th' back o' th' head with a sledgehammer."

"We should find cover, Cyke," Logan was now chomping on an unlit cigar. "We don't know where we are, we could be on another planet for all we know, though it looks like earth. Those trees should provide adequately until we can figure out where we are, we should move farther into the forest for now."

"You're right," Cyclops looked about in the darkness. "Let's go everyone, into the forest."

Rogue tried to stand but Gambit stopped her. "Y' shouldn't be walkin' 'round, darlin'."

"What do ya propose, swamp rat?" Rogue asked with a slight grin.

Wordlessly Remy gathered her into his arms and as if she were made of fine china or rose petals, he gingerly carried her toward the forest.

"Hm," Rogue said. "That's what Ah thought y' were thinkin'."

XXX

After a bit of scouting, Logan found a cave near a stream further in the forest and they settled in there. They formulated a few plans and before sunrise, it was decided that one of them had to go scouting the terrain and they decided that Gambit would be the best one for the job given his ability to move about unseen. Normally he would have been fine with the assignment but this time, his Rogue was injured and he was reluctant to leave her. It took a bit of convincing and a bit of sweet words from Rogue before he agreed to go. Beast treated some minor wounds of the others, a few scrapes but nothing serious. Logan went out in the forest to see if there was any edible plat life or animals in case they had to be there for awhile. He came back with raspberries, blackberries and a couple of rabbits that they cooked over a small fire Scott had built. The fire was large enough to cook the rabbits but small enough not to attract any attention.

"Here ya go kid," Logan hunkered down beside Rogue with their breakfast on a large leaf. "Hank wants ta see if you can keep all this down. Eat up."

"Ah'm really not hungry, Logan," Rogue said, glancing at the mouth of the cave for the thousandth time.

"You not eatin' won't make the Cajun come back any faster, darlin'."

"Am Ah that obvious?" Rogue smiled at him.

"Yeah, but that's okay. Ya shoulda seen him when you were out earlier."

"Am Ah bein' foolish ta worry 'bout him?"

"Nah, ya just bein' human, ain't nothin' wrong with that."

"He can take care o' himself," Rogue nodded, trying to reassure herself.

"Yup."

"Thanks Wolvie," Rogue leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Don't mention it, darlin'. Now try an' eat somethin'."

Rogue a little bit before her stomach felt a bit queasy. The pain from her head was getting bad, so bad it was making her nauseas and she hoped that whatever Remy found, there was some aspirin there. Hank had asked him to acquire medical supplies if he could. Out of fear that she may have a concussion, Hank had forbidden Rogue to sleep but the injury and lack of sleep earlier was taking its toll on her. She had to fight to stay awake. Her worry for Gambit kept her up; he had been gone for several hours without any word from his communicator and Scott had decided to send Logan after him if he did not return or make contact within that next hour. A few minutes after this was decided, however, Gambit strolled into the cave with an old fashioned-looking duffle bag and his leather duster pulled tightly about him. Rogue was so happy to see him but did not have the strength to sit up. She gave him a relieved smile and he returned it before addressing Scott.

"What did you find, Gambit?" Scott asked as Remy handed the duffle bag to Hank. "Are we still on earth?"

"Y' better brace y'self, _mon caption_," Remy said. "'Cause we ain't in Kansas anymore."


End file.
